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Abu'l-Barakāt al-Baghdādī
Abu'l-Barakāt Hibat Allah ibn Malkā al-Baghdādī ( ; c. 1080 – 1164 or 1165 CE) was an Islamic philosopher, physicist, psychologist, physician and scientist of Jewish-Arab descent from Baghdad, Iraq. His Hebrew birth name was Nathanel, before converting from Judaism to Islam at some point in his life.Routledge History of Philosophy by Stuart Shanker, John Marenbon, George Henry Radcliffe Parkinson, pg. 76 His writings include the anti-Aristotelian work Kitāb al-Muʿtabar ("The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"); a philosophical commentary on the Kohelet; and the treatise "On the Reason Why the Stars Are Visible at Night and Hidden in Daytime". Abu'l-Barakāt in many respects followed Ibn Sina, but also developed his own ideas. He proposed an explanation of the acceleration of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of power with successive increments of velocity, anticipating Newton's second law of motion. His thought influenced the Illuminationist school of classical Islamic philosophy, the medieval Jewish philosopher 'Izz ad-Dawla Ibn Kammuna, and the Christian philosophers Jean Buridan and Albert of Saxony. Life Abu'l-Barakāt, famed as Awḥad al-Zamān (Unique One of his Time), was born in Balad, a town on the Tigris above Mosul in modern-day Iraq. As a renowned physician, he served at the courts of the caliphs of Baghdad and the Seljuk sultans. Born a Jew, he later converted to Islam at some point in his life. Isaac, the son of the Abraham Ibn Ezra and the son-in-law of Judah Halevi, was one of his pupils, to whom Abu'l-Barakāt, Jewish at the time, dictated a long philosophical commentary on Ecclesiastes, written in Arabic using Hebrew aleph bet. Isaac wrote a poem in his honour as introduction to this work. Works He wrote a critique of Aristotelian philosophy and Aristotelian physics entitled Kitab al-Mu'tabar (the title may be translated as "The Book of What Has Been Established by Personal Reflection"). According to Abu'l-Barakāt, Kitāb al-Muʿtabar consists in the main of critical remarks jotted down by him over the years while reading philosophical text, and published at the insistence of his friends, in the form of a philosophical work. The work "presented a serious philosophical alternative to, and criticism of, Ibn Sina". He also developed concepts which resemble several modern theories in physics. Abu'l-Barakāt also wrote a short treatise on the intellect, Kitāb Ṣaḥiḥ adillat al-naql fī māhiyyat al-ʻaql (صحيح أدلة النقل في ماهية العقل), which has been edited by Ahmad El-Tayeb. All that we possess in the way of medical writing by Abu'l-Barakāt are a few prescriptions for remedies. These remain in manuscript and are as yet unstudied. Scientific method Al-Baghdaadi described an early scientific method emphasizing repeated experimentation, influenced by Avicenna, as follows: ''Kitab al-Mu'tabar'' He wrote a critique of Aristotelian philosophy and Aristotelian physics entitled Kitab al-Mu'tabar, in which he developed concepts which resemble several modern theories in physics. Motion According to Alistair Cameron Crombie, al-Baghdaadi was a follower of Avicennism, who proposed an explanation of the acceleration of falling bodies by the accumulation of successive increments of power with successive increments of velocity. Crombie, Alistair Cameron, Augustine to Galileo 2, p. 67. According to Shlomo Pines, al-Baghdaadi's theory of motion was thus the oldest negation of Aristotle's fundamental dynamic law that a constant force produces a uniform motion, is thus an anticipation in a vague fashion of the fundamental law of classical mechanics that a force applied continuously produces acceleration. (cf. Abel B. Franco (October 2003). "Avempace, Projectile Motion, and Impetus Theory", Journal of the History of Ideas 64 (4), p. 521-546 528.) Al-Baghdaadi's theory of motion was a vague foreshadowing Newton's second law of motion, by distinguishing between velocity and acceleration and for showing that force is proportional to acceleration rather than velocity. The 14th-century philosophers Jean Buridan and Albert of Saxony later refer to Abu'l-Barakat in explaining that the acceleration of a falling body is a result of its increasing impetus. Abu'l-Barakat also modified Avicenna's theory of projectile motion, and stated that the mover imparts a violent inclination (mayl qasri) on the moved and that this diminishes as the moving object distances itself from the mover. Al-Baghdaadi also suggested that motion is relative, writing that "there is motion only if the relative positions of the bodies in question change." This vaguely foreshadows the concept of relativity, in recognizing the idea of there being different frames of references. Another theory he developed which has no modern counterpart is his theory that "each type of body has a characteristic velocity that reaches its maximum when its motion encounters no resistance." Space and Time Al-Baghdaadi criticized Aristotle's concept of time as "the measure of motion" and instead redefines the concept with his own definition of time as "the measure of being", thus distinguishing between space and time, and reclassifying time as a metaphysical concept rather than a physical one. The scholar Y. Tzvi Langermann writes: Psychology On his contributions to Islamic psychology, Langermann writes: Legacy Abu'l-Barakāt's thought had a deep influence on Islamic philosophy. However, his works were not translated into Hebrew, and he is seldom cited in Jewish philosophy, probably because of his conversion to Islam. The famous theologian and philosopher Fakhr al-Din al-Razi was one of Abu'l-Barakāt's eminent disciples. The influence of Al-Baghdadi’s views appears especially in Al-Razi’s chief work Al-Mabāḥith al-Mashriqiyyah (Oriental Discourses). Abu'l-Barakāt influenced certain conceptions of Suhrawardi. See also * Physics in medieval Islam * Islamic science and technology * Ibn Bajjah * Fakhr al-Din al-Razi * Shahab al-Din Suhrawardi Notes and references ; Notes ; Citations ; Bibliography * Marcotte, Roxanne D. (2004) La conversion tardive d'un philosophe: Abu al-Barakat al-Baghdidi (mort vers 545/1150) sur "L'Intellect et sa quiddite" (al-'Aql wa mahiyyatu-hu). Documenti e studi sulla tradizione filosofica medievale, 15 1: 201-226. * * * * Arabic sources * * * * * * * * * * External links * ABU’L-BARAKĀT BAḠDĀDĪ entry in Encyclopædia Iranica. * Abu ‘l-Barakat al-Baghdadi: Outline of a Non-Aristotelian Natural Philosophy. * "Abu’l-Barakāt Al-Baghdādī, Hibat Allah." Complete Dictionary of Scientific Biography. 2008. Retrieved October 7, 2011 from Encyclopedia.com * Ibn Sina and Abu al-Barakat al-Baghdadi on the origination of the soul and the invalidation of its transmigration. Category:1080s births Category:1160s deaths Category:Muslim philosophers Category:Jewish philosophers Category:Natural philosophers Category:Aristotelian philosophers Category:12th-century philosophers Category:Physicians of medieval Islam Category:Medieval Jewish physicians of Iraq Category:12th-century physicians Category:Court physicians Category:Converts to Islam from Judaism Category:People from Baghdad Category:Arab scholars Category:1165 deaths Category:People of Jewish descent